2017 Fall Webinars – Improve your skills

Whether you are interested in learning how to publish in scholarly journals, develop a website, use podcasting to promote your scholarship, manage your writing projects, or how to use your research and insights in ways that contribute to the social good, TAA’s fall webinar series for textbook and academic authors has you covered. Join us as various industry experts share their expertise on academic and textbook writing topics. Sign-up early to reserve your spot! Not a TAA member? Learn more about member benefits and join today.

In virtually every institution of higher education in the United States and beyond, faculty publishing is used not only as an index of productivity that is employed by administrators to make decisions on faculty about tenure, promotion, and merit pay increases, but it is also used as an index of departmental, collegial, and institutional prestige. Unfortunately, a large percentage of faculty have never had an article published or have had very few articles published. Thus, it is clear that many faculty members need guidance as to how to increase their levels of productivity.

With these points in mind, the overall goal of this two-part webinar is to provide a meta-framework for publishing that contains steps that are continuous, iterative, interactive, holistic, dynamic, and synergistic. Specifically, in the first webinar, Onwuegbuzie will summarize 30 steps to publishing. In the second webinar, he will outline strategies for helping authors secure impactful publications—which represent publications that advance the field. Both these webinar sessions are applicable for all emergent scholars—including doctoral students—who would like to learn how to secure quality publications. Also, these sessions are useful for beginning faculty members and experienced faculty members alike.

Your book’s website is the only tool that works around the clock to promote your book, but sometimes the web presence provided by a publisher is… underwhelming. In this two-part webinar series facilitated by book author Katie Linder, you’ll learn how to create a web presence for your book that highlights its key features, bonus materials, purchasing options, and more.

In the first webinar, Katie will focus on the content and strategy of book websites. What are the options for what they can include? How can they be used to promote your book? She will also share specific examples of book websites and discuss some of the dos and don’ts of website design. In the second webinar, Katie will focus on the back-end logistics of creating and designing a website including choosing a domain name, web hosting possibilities, content management systems, and website maintenance, so you will know exactly what you need to do to get started with building your own book website.

Podcasting is becoming an increasingly popular method of sharing content, but many authors don’t know how to get started. In this two-part webinar series facilitated by book author and podcaster Katie Linder, you’ll learn about the tools you need to launch a podcast as well as tips and strategies for how to promote your work through this creative medium.

In the first webinar, Katie will share her strategies for promoting scholarship through podcasting and will cover topics such as choosing a show topic, creating regular content, building an audience, connecting with the podcaster community, and attracting sponsorship. In the second webinar, Katie will focus on the logistics of launching a podcast including recording equipment, editing software, audio hosting, website design, and social media management. She will also share tips and strategies for time management when recording regular podcast episodes.

Do you ever feel like you’re working on a million tasks at once, but not making progress on any of them? As an academic, it’s likely that you are juggling multiple commitments and projects. Even the most determined of us can find ourselves overwhelmed at the scope of our responsibilities. If you find yourself struggling to keep track of your writing amidst all your other professional obligations, then this webinar is for you. Jane will share tips for making (and sticking to) a writing schedule, working regularly (instead of binge writing) so your projects stay fresh in your mind, and managing multiple deadlines. You will learn strategies you can employ immediately to make sure that your projects stay on the front burner no matter how busy you are. We’ll also discuss how to combat procrastination, feeling overwhelmed, and distraction. You’ll leave the webinar with a plan for maintaining steady progress on your work.

Academic writers want to disseminate their research for many reasons. Many are motivated by university requirements for certain kinds of publications. Others want to contribute to their fields by communicating with other researchers. Some of us want to communicate with professionals or practitioners, entrepreneurs or activists, makers or inventors who work outside the ivory tower. We hope our findings can be applied to make a difference. How can we use our research and insights in ways that contribute to the social good?

In this one-hour webinar, textbook writer Janet Salmons and environmental non-profit leader Lynn Wilson will explore this question. They will share examples and suggestions for socially beneficial ways to think about our publication strategies.

Kim Pawlak is Director of Publishing & Operations for the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA). She has been writing about the textbook and academic authoring and publishing industry for 20 years.